Nothing Like Her
by Blake B. Shelton
Summary: Mariah had said she was nothing like Cassie... but what if she was Cassie? Mariah begins to experience flashbacks of a past life, what happened to her, and what does Ian Ward have to do with it?
1. Chapter 1

"You don't deserve to look like Cassie!" Sharon yelled at Mariah. She was definitely taken aback by Sharon's words, her body stiffening at the remark, her face subtly changing into a look of sadness. Subtle, but it was there. Those words cut deep.

"I don't have to take this", Mariah said silently to herself, she could walk away right now, go out the front door and never look back. She could, but felt as if she were stuck in place. Why couldn't she move? All she needed to do was put one foot in front of the other, and she'd be gone out of Sharon's life forever.

"Why am I thinking this way?" she thought, why did she care so much about what happened to Sharon? Was it because of the guilt she felt for nearly driving her insane? Was it because she thought of her as a maternal figure? If so, why? She already had a mother, albeit an absent one who didn't really care much to be a mother, much less hers.

"You had convinced me that you felt terrible about what you had done to me... pretending to be my little girl? Pushing me to the brink?!" Mariah said nothing, only staring in disbelief. She should of said something, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"I know that you had no one growing up except for Ian Ward, who is a horrible man and I know that your mother was absent so much so she might as well of been dead, and I know you're starving for love..."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME SO SHUT UP!" Mariah suddenly yelled after a long silence... Who was Sharon to treat her like this? To talk to her like this? She wasn't some little girl who needed to be punished... she was a grown woman, capable of making her own way after all.

"Everything that you think about me, its all in your head! I didn't have to drive you insane, you were there long before I came into the picture! I told you, I'm not your beloved Cassie, I'm nothing like her!"

"And that, is painfully clear to me!" Sharon replied, her voice breaking slightly. "Cassie would of grown up to be a kind, a generous young lady... Not somebody who uses her misfortune, for being a thief or liar, or a tramp!" Tears began to well up in Mariah's eyes now, it was clear what Sharon thought of her.

Mariah couldn't really remember much of what happened next... all she knows is words were exchanged, painful words. She unleashed an outburst towards Sharon out of shear anger. Sharon in turn had gotten so angry she nearly slapped her, but backed off from doing it.

"I want you out of my house..." Sharon said.

"Works for me..." Mariah replied. Minutes later she emerged from upstairs with a bag in tow. Before leaving she stops to take one last look into Sharon's disapproving face, then she coldly walks by her and out the door onto the porch, shutting the door behind her.

As Mariah began to walk away from the porch, she suddenly grasps her head in pain, her legs buckling as she fell to the floor.

"Uh!" She groaned in pain, her head feeling as though it were about to burst.

"Whats happening to me?" she said to no one in particular.

She began to flashback to something... What, she didn't know... She saw a girl that looked just like her, and someone who appeared to be passed out.

"Daniel? Daniel?" the girl said.

Daniel? Who was he? For some reason or another, she recognized the name... but from where?

Can't think. Head hurts too much.

The flashback continued, the girl reached into something and pulled out what looked to be car keys.

"I... it's going to be okay, I'll get you home safe..." the girl said reassuringly, the man still firmly unconscious.

"I've driven around the ranch a bunch of times." Ranch? The Newman Ranch? That couldn't be, as far she knew she'd never been here before, until Victor hired her. In fact, she'd never been on a ranch in her life, or had she?

"And there won't be any traffic this late..."

Mariah blinked her eyes as the flashback ended, the pain in her head finally subsiding. What was that? She didn't have any history of any severe medical problems, although she had suffered from severe headaches ever since she was a teenager, Ian had always told her not to worry about it, as it was probably nothing to be concerned with.

"Well, no reason to stay here..." She said. After all, there was nothing left for her here. Sharon hated her, who knows what Nick would think, her mother never wanted her in the first place, her life was just a jumbled mess. Then there was Cassie, she had gotten sick of hearing that name. Cassie was perfect, irreplaceable, kind, generous and loving. Everything she wasn't.

She had to get far away from this place, far enough where no one would ever find her, she had been on her own before, she'd be on her again, and she was just fine with that. She didn't need anyone. By now she had walked to the outskirts of the house, she turns around to take one last look at the place.

"It was good while it lasted..." She sighed and turned back around.

**End of Chapter 1 **


	2. Chapter 2

Ian nervously paced around his room anticipating a call from Helen. He takes out his watch and glances at it.

"Blast it, Helen... where are you?" he said to himself, it wasn't enough Nicholas had been sticking his nose in business that didn't concern him in Madison, now Helen wouldn't even answer her phone. What else could possibly go wrong?

Suddenly his phone made a beeping sound.

"Finally" he said. Opening the phone he expected to get a text or something from Helen, instead in was from Mariah.

**I need to see you.** It read... Ian thought for a second.

"I'm sorry, my dear... but now really isn't a good time." he said, he quickly typed a reply.

**Dealing with another matter. I'll call when I am done.** He then closed the phone.

Just then as if on cue, Helen walked in.

"Where have you been?" Ian asked in a rather uncharacteristic manner.

"What, do I have to report to you everywhere I go? I'm not some sort of servant, just waiting for your beckoning call, Ian!"

"My, aren't we in a rather feisty mood?"

"What is this about, anyway? Why is it so important that you see me?" Ian's face turns serious as he steps toward her.

"We..." he began, "Have a problem..."

"Oh really? Well, whats that?" she asked.

"Nicholas Newman is in Madison... he's been asking questions about you." Helen grew a concerned look on her face.

"Well, so what? He's just wasting his time is all... There's nothing for him to find out. I covered my tracks, remember?"

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble Helen... but I just received a call."

"A call?"

"It seems our good doctor friend, Mr. Hill has just been arrested and taken into FBI custody!"

"What?"

"As we speak Nicholas is on his way back to tell Sharon what he thinks is the truth about Mariah, but we all know its far from the truth."

"What do you want from me anyway?" she asked.

"All I need from you... is for you to stay out of site for awhile while I figure out what to do next."

"And?"

"And? What do you mean and?"

"I know you Ian... you always want something else without saying it directly."

"Look... If there's anything else I need from you, I'll let you know, my dear... the Newmans must never find out that Mariah is really Cassie. I have worked too hard on this for it to come crashing down around me now! For years I've planned this as the ultimate payback to Nikki... and no one, I mean no one, is going to stop me!"

"There's that name again... you're obsessed with her, aren't you?" Ian simply chuckled at the sound of this.

"Have you ever heard the saying "Do unto others as they do unto you"? Well, I'm simply following that line of reasoning... she humiliated me, made me think I was Dylan's father when I wasn't. She left me after I did nothing but treat her with the utmost respect."

"We could have been good together, you know? Its really a pity about what happened to that granddaughter of hers."

"You're a sick man, Ian." Helen replied.

"That's a strong word, Helen... I prefer "enlightened". He smiled. His face suddenly turned grim.

"Nobody makes a fool out of me, nobody!" he said, gritting his teeth. "I'm going to make sure Nikki pays, and pays, and pays for what she did to me. And by the time I'm through, I'll have all the Newmans on they're knees!"

"Well then..." his disposition suddenly turned pleasant "We'll be in touch." He went to open the door for Helen.

"And, if you happen to run that mouth of yours to Nicholas or anyone else for that matter... There isn't a place on Earth where I won't find you."

"Well, then I'll give you something to keep in mind too... I know where all the skeletons are buried, Ian. Don't think I won't use the information to destroy you if it ever came to that. I could go straight to the cops and then tell them everything. So I'd watch my step if I were you." she said, then walked out.

Ian simply smiled, stepping out from his room and watching Helen walk down the long balcony.

"We'll see my dear... we'll see." he said to himself.

**End of Chapter 2 **


End file.
